Increasingly, consumer products such as satellite receivers, cable set top boxes and the like are including some sort of client/server functions such as full or limited Internet connectivity for interactive electronic programming guides (EPG), Web browsing, message exchange, E-mail and other services. With standards emerging and evolving, and multiple operating systems in use by different service providers, hardware is increasingly dependant upon software and firmware upgrades to continue to function and to provide continually enhanced functionality.
Even in the field of cable television Set Top Boxes, several different and generally incompatible standards have evolved with differing levels of functionality required by different cable systems. In order to meet the demands for manufacture of such Set Top Boxes, manufacturers must supply a different STB for each system with different firmware or software designed for that particular system.
As the availability of broadband communications expands, users will increasingly be able to make a choice from among various service providers for television programming and interactive services. Each such provider may have its own operating system (e.g. operating systems marked under the trademarks Windows™, Windows CE™, Linux™, VxWorks™, Aperios™, QNX™, etc.) and its own application software. To provide the user with the ability to select from among the various service providers, a simple to use, flexible hardware system which can operate under numerous operating systems to provide various applications would be desirable and advantageous over a requirement for separate hardware and/or software for each such provider. Such a system, to be successful, should be easy for the operator to use and upgrade. The present invention addresses these issues in a device which can be readily adapted to a new operating system and application in an easy to use, user transparent manner.